Abstract
We report the first measurement of the three-body breakup reaction cross sections in helium-3 () and tritium () at large momentum transfer [] and kinematics, where the cross section should be sensitive to quasielastic (QE) scattering from single nucleons. The data cover missing momenta that, in the QE limit with no rescattering, equals the initial momentum of the probed nucleon. The measured cross sections are compared with state-of-the-art ab initio calculations. Overall good agreement, within , is observed between data and calculations for the full range for and for for . Including the effects of rescattering of the outgoing nucleon improves agreement with the data at and suggests contributions from charge-exchange (SCX) rescattering. The isoscalar sum of plus , which is largely insensitive to SCX, is described by calculations to within the accuracy of the data over the entire range. This validates current models of the ground state of the three-nucleon system up to very high initial nucleon momenta of .
- Received 29 January 2020
- Revised 12 March 2020
- Accepted 30 April 2020
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.124.212501
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